Problems insuring Furby SE

[sotonjoe]

Directline insist that the Fabia VRS SE isn't listed on their database and that it must therefore be a dealer special! I've told them that all the other insurers I've spoken to seem to have it on their database and that it certainly isn't a dealer special.

That said, they're happy to insure under the normal Fabia VRS entry but then by adding 'se' as well as a list of the mods under the special notes section. I wanted to go with Directline as their policies sound particularly comprehensive, however I'm concerned about the vehicle database issue.

What do other users reckon? I seem to remember at least one other SE owner reporting similar problems a while back.

[Wet Kipper]

They definitely weren't on the system when I got mine last April. I had to list the "special" specs as extra modifications, despite an argument with the guy that it was impossible to buy a new one without them.

however I have now seen them listed on other insurer's lists (though haven't seen Direct Line's), plus, the V5 (??) which lists the official details of the car does say that it is a Fabia vRS SE - so I reckon it should be insured as such.

perhaps you could get Skoda to send Direct Line an official letter or summat.

mind you, as far as I recall, Direct Line were amongst the group of insurers who wanted about twice as much as the people I finally went with (Admiral)

[Mr Grumpy]

We had problems insuring our Fabia SE with Direct Line.
After much discussion with numpties there, we were assured that it IS insured as an SE with all the irreplaceable extras.
( We were also informed that the SE was on their database, and that was in July)

[Captain Sisko]

Try Kwik Fit

[Loz]

Mines been fine under both Admiral and Bell (Yes I know it's the same company Bell was cheaper for me this year...) it is even listed on their online quotes

[sotonjoe]

Originally Posted by Wet Kipper

They definitely weren't on the system when I got mine last April. I had to list the "special" specs as extra modifications, despite an argument with the guy that it was impossible to buy a new one without them.

however I have now seen them listed on other insurer's lists (though haven't seen Direct Line's), plus, the V5 (??) which lists the official details of the car does say that it is a Fabia vRS SE - so I reckon it should be insured as such.

perhaps you could get Skoda to send Direct Line an official letter or summat.

mind you, as far as I recall, Direct Line were amongst the group of insurers who wanted about twice as much as the people I finally went with (Admiral)

Your experience of them, other insurers and their individual databases is the same as mine. However, I thought I'd try and go with Directline as they were only £68 more than my lowest quote (Chris Knott & Highway) and I thought it would be a good idea to avoid a smaller broker and take advantage of Directline's uninsured river / rental car extras.

[sotonjoe]

Originally Posted by Mr Grumpy

We had problems insuring our Fabia SE with Direct Line.
After much discussion with numpties there, we were assured that it IS insured as an SE with all the irreplaceable extras.
( We were also informed that the SE was on their database, and that was in July)

That is strange then because it definitely isn't on their database now. It's certainly annoying!

[sotonjoe]

Originally Posted by Loz

Mines been fine under both Admiral and Bell (Yes I know it's the same company Bell was cheaper for me this year...) it is even listed on their online quotes

Yeh, the frustrating thing is that other insurers who are part of the same group and use a virtually identical online quote system do have it on their database as you've said. I told them this but they didn't believe me!

[LegoVRS]

I moved away from directline after my experiences with the repair of my previous fabia. they had the car for over a month, and when i got it back the rear bumper didn't look correctly fitted, the rear wiper wash didn't work and the parking sensors were not fitted correctly. at the time i also had to fight to get a hire car even though the HGV driver admitted liability.

I'm now with admiral via chris knott. for the first 6 months the car was listed as a fabia VRS but since my renewal in december it is now listed as a VRS SE. there wasn't a premium change as the engine size and power are the same.

Steve

[sotonjoe]

I'm probably going to for Chris Knott now as Directline have just annoyed me on the phone.

After speakign to them yesterday I tried to double check their website re the SE vehicle detaisl but found they had deleted my original quote. When I ran the details through again, the price had dropped from £568 to £528. I phone today to try and purchase at the new lower price only to be told that they only had one quote onscreen at approx £540 but that it didn't have all the 'extras' added!

After trawling through all the extras and trying to emphasise that 'race blue metallic paint' is a different thing to 'metallic paint' etc the woman said that the extras shouldn't put the price up.

At this point she asked if I'd had any windscreen claims as apparently they need to be listed even though they don't affect the premium. I said I'd had to have a chipped windscreen replaced but I hardly thought it was significant. Apparently it is!

The final price then came out at £623. She continued to say that the 'mods' shouldn't have put the price up even though something clearly had. She couldn't drop to the quote I had in my hand as they had no evidence of it.

She asked if I could fax it to her but then realised it wouldn't be any use since they are not allowed to make outbound calls and we cannot contact specific telesales operatives using direct dial numbers etc.

At this point I had the option of accepting an overpriced quoe or holding on the line again whilst she begged a team manager to do something which she didn't think they'd be able to do anyway.

So all in all that was 30mins and god knows how much money wasted!

I know the staff do the best they can but the company seem to have a pretty antiquated set of systems / procedures IMO and for this reason alone I can't be bothered to try and take a quote out with them any longer!

[Wet Kipper]

that's good to know for when my renewal comes round.

[ryand]

try SPECIALIST CAR INSURANCE & CHEAP CAR INSURANCE UK FROM ADRIAN FLUX a specialist broker who I have used for years, they are fantastic and can match and beat the big players no problem.

[sotonjoe]

Originally Posted by ryand

try SPECIALIST CAR INSURANCE & CHEAP CAR INSURANCE UK FROM ADRIAN FLUX a specialist broker who I have used for years, they are fantastic and can match and beat the big players no problem.

yeh, i tried them but it seems that chris knott have more power when it comes to dealing with insurers and they seem to provide cheaper quotes from the same insurers.

Does that make sense?

[LegoVRS]

I tried them at renewal time and was quoted well over a thousand pounds... with 8 years no claims bonus and a single no fault claim 2 years ago...

Funnily enough i didn't take them up on their offer!!

Originally Posted by ryand

try SPECIALIST CAR INSURANCE & CHEAP CAR INSURANCE UK
FROM ADRIAN FLUX a specialist broker who I have used for years, they are fantastic and can match and beat the big players no problem.

[sotonjoe]

I've gone with Chris Knott at £499. A quick and easy purchase after 'Paul' recalled my earlier quote. He thought it was ridiculous that Direct Line were wanting to log windscreen claims as well and said he had never hear of companies doing this before.

[Wet Kipper]

I'm running through the process with comparethemarket.com

they've got 2 (count 'em !!!) SEs to choose from
VRS Special edition TDI (130) Manual 2007 2008
VRS TDI SE (130) Manual 2007 2008

I'll try them both, and see if it makes a difference !

[Wet Kipper]

the one with SE worked, the one with all the words didn't.

But here's the latest nonsense - I called Admiral (whom I'm currently with) to get my details changed.

Last year, the SE was v new and wasn't on their system yet, so I ended up getting cover for standard VRS+mods. this year I thought it best to get the vehicle accurate, especially as they are becoming rarer.

Turns out that what they have on their system as "Fabia VRS 130 LTD" then becomes listed as a 4-Door Saloon built in 2007 onwards.

Poor clueless / helpless person on the phone said that this must have come from either the DVLA or the manufacturer themselves, and they have no control over changing it.

It's the same for Elephant.co.uk and Bell(as they are the same company)

seem strange that everyone else seems to be able to have the SE in correctly, but Admiral/Elephant don't. It's a shame because the quote is about 200 pounds cheaper than everyone else, but I don't want to be in trouble for inaccurate vehicle details, should something go wrong.

[Mossman]

Thumbs up for Chris Knott - great for us (Non SE though).

[Wet Kipper]

I finally got the best deal from the Co-operative bank (cis.co.uk) at just under £400, when my next nearest was 430 for admiral and their dodgy database, and the next nearest with the proper car listing was closer to 500, so I'm a happy man !

[bluebeat]

More than said the Se is on some list of 50 whatever that means but refused to insure it, I asked for an explanation still waiting so I have stuck with Skoda,